Operator Music Band – Coördination EP

It doesn’t seem all that long ago, that we were talking to Operator Music Band about their very good album Puzzlephonics I & II. However, once again, in the space of just a handful of months, they’re throwing further energy out into the universe from their New York base. December 1st will see the release of a new set of tunes – the wonderfully accented Coördination EP. (New Professor Music)

The tunes of PuzzlephonicsI & II were sequenced as two EPs joined in one whole, so there was a tangible but subtle contrast in the two ‘sides’ of the collection. Here, in this new wave of material, the sensibility of the band is sharper still – and, considering the relatively short space in time between that release and this, the evolutionary leap is not small.

Again, at the core of things are Dara Hirsch and Jared Hiller. They each bring a sense of technical awareness that processes all this stuff of analog-processed beats and synth wizardry, with a vulnerability in vocal work. Check out a track like “Communicator 4”, and the ghost of Jean Michel Jarre’s earlier albums dances with the best of Hirsch’s voice, which travels from intimate to expansive within just a few breaths. You can hear the sense of discovery that Hiller and Hirsch clearly enjoy in working together. It’s really nice.

Despite the initial appearance of rigidity, laid out by beats and a keen ear on polished production, the sense of mischief that carried Puzzlephonics I & II is evidenced here. There’s a deadpan in those accents, there’s a humor in the references to heroes who have gone before. That’s not to say OMB are playing around here, this is a seriously articulated invitation to dance.

Let’s talk for a moment about “Moto Komplete”, the final track on the EP. Hypnotic, well measured, and a great give-away of the seeds the band are planting in your brain. There’s something seductive, nocturnal, and pleasantly off-kilter about this track. There are other tracks that are more pop than this, and “Alarmed” is a tune that was previously shared that shows a breezy entrance for newcomers. But this closing, mid-tempo pulse that rolls on and on is an indicator of the real depth, and trajectory of OMB. It trances out a little before snapping to attention, into an absence of noise. Holy smoke, it’s good.

For Coördination EP we award Operator Music Band eight hours of 528Hz.